Dalton Gates

Alaura Wilson (11) works on an assignment during Advisory in Gilliam’s homework lab on Thursday Sept. 21.

Students have struggled with homework for years, and at Manitou Springs High School, the only available help was in the form of peer tutors and the well known math labs, which were dutifully held in the classroom of Julie Gardner before her retirement from the district. However, since the aftereffects of Covid 19 and its shutdowns have persisted even to 2023, new changes have been made to the outside of class help alternatives that students can now take full advantage of.

The new work labs, including Math, Science, English, and Homework, were recently added to the roster of possible aid students can access for the coming 2023-2024 school year. The decision was made between school administration and the Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS), with the MTSS committee being in charge of implementing the new work labs into advisory periods. A majority of the day to day implementation is in the hands of Ben Gilliam and Jill McCracken. The new work labs will be available to students to attend in their respective rooms during Advisory, provided they request to be allowed to spend the time in the work labs to work on academics or receive help on necessary work, or are actively falling behind in class and are assigned a work lab as a result.

While the decision was made by the MTSS and administration, the work labs are being managed and proctored by teachers in their respective departments. For instance, the Writing labs are being overseen by English teacher Riley Walker.

“I have high hopes,” Walker said. “We are tracking students through this program, so hopefully we will be able to gather good data about the effectiveness of this intervention.”

Changes are still being made and managed by the MTSS, and so there is some necessary calibration to ensure this new system’s effectiveness. At the moment, it may be possible that students who do not actually need the help are assigned to work in these new labs, while other students may not attend as a result of failed communication or other issues.

“I do think it may take some time to make sure the students who need help are being accurately identified, but I think that will get better,” manager of the Math Lab, Elizabeth Lee said. “I had some students who were failing but then were able to raise their grade in between the time they were identified and the day they were assigned to come to the Math Lab.”

While the new work labs can be attended during Advisory by any student on days that are not late starts, struggling students may potentially be assigned to a work lab, in which the expectation is for them to attend the work lab on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays until their grade sees improvement.

“It really is meant to be a support and not a punishment,” Gilliam said. “That’s been something we’ve been trying to make really clear is that you’re not in trouble. Nobody’s mad at you. You’re not being punished.”

Students may well see benefits from this external help from their classes, but another issue arises in if teachers will have the time or ability to put a proper focus on helping students during these assigned times, since they do have their other responsibilities to tend to. While some teachers expressed hope in being able to support students, some others felt that the time could be better spent focusing on their already large workload.

“I think time will tell as to whether this is the best use of our time, but this is something that we’ve never tried before, and I’m really excited,” Gilliam said. “I think this is going to be a good way to support students without putting too much additional work onto teachers’ plates, because your teachers do have a lot to do and we were really thoughtful about that.”

Students have always had supplementary work to support their in-class learning. While it is disputed among students, parents, schools, and researchers alike on how effective homework may be, studies from Stanford Researchers show that unsupported homework, especially an abundance of it, can make students more susceptible to mental and physical stress, a lack of balance, and societal alienation.

“Homework can be useful when it comes to doing reading, or memorizing math facts or vocabulary, but by and large, homework is not an effective tool for teaching,” Walker said. “Students need to be working with engaged teachers to really learn the skills they need to learn. Homework as it was given to me in high school, as it is traditionally understood, is damaging.”

The consensus among teachers? There can be a bit too much work for everyone. However, these work labs are a step in a direction that many hope will make it easier for students to excel and succeed in their academics.

“Like learning anything, it takes repetition and practice for it to stick and in order to improve,” Lee said. “Even if students are not college bound, it is important to build skills in learning new information and self-discipline in order to be able to accomplish the things you want to have in life.”